A/N: Don't hate me for what I wrote this time around. Some dub-con elements, though vague and I don't get into it much. You can skip the part in italics if you don't want to read it. You might be slightly confused later, but it should clear itself up at some point. Also, sorry if the characters seem off. It's been a while since I wrote them. :/
Draco couldn't sleep. After being woken up so roughly by Harry (which was not pleasant in the slightest, except for maybe touching Harry for an extended period of time), he didn't think he'd be able to go back to sleep. He was restless. It was cold, too. He couldn't exactly go sit by the fire and slip on some warm shoes, because there was no fire and there were no warm shoes. He sighed for what was probably the millionth time.
Maybe he should ask Harry if he would sleep with him. If Draco was cold, Harry probably was too, right? It could help them both. Maybe Draco wanted to touch Harry again, and feel his body against his own, and maybe kiss him. He winced, rolling over, telling himself that wasn't right to think about Harry like that, especially when he was laying five feet away. And besides, it would be for warmth that he would request for Harry to sleep with him. Nothing else. It was best not to get his hopes up anyway, because Harry might not even be awake.
He debated with himself for a few more minutes, though it seemed like ages, before gathering up the courage. It felt like he took years to do anything.
"Harry? Are you awake?" he asked, some words coming out as a whisper and some not. He wanted to smack his forehead—he did not want to sound like that. Nervousness wasn't attractive.
"Yeah. Why? Can you not sleep?" Harry replied, sitting up. Draco licked his lips and sat up too. He squinted in the dark, just making out Harry's shape. He hadn't even seemed tired or annoyed, immediately sitting up and asking questions. Part of him hoped that he had been laying there, wondering what it would be like if they slept in the same bed too.
"No. It's cold," Draco said, tucking his feet under his legs, hoping that would help him warm up. He hoped he didn't sound too whiny when he said that. He bit his lip when Harry didn't reply.
"I can't really help you with that," he said after a pause, sounding frustrated. Draco frowned, a knot forming in his stomach. It seemed like it would be a no if he asked, but then again, he would never know if he didn't try.
"Could you—could you sleep with me?" Draco clenched the blankets under his hands as he waited for Harry's reply. He really hoped it would be a yes.
But there was no reply, and for a couple of seconds, Draco worried that he'd done something wrong. That he'd stepped over a line that shouldn't be crossed. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh, eyes watering and cheeks heating up from embarrassment and rejection. He jumped when he felt Harry grab his arm, hand warm and strong.
"Move over a bit," Harry whispered to him, and he did, relief flooding through him. He didn't do something wrong, and Harry was actually going to sleep with him—next to him. It wasn't anything more than that, and he shouldn't want or expect more.
Draco laid back down, pulling his legs closer to himself to stay warm, with Harry close beside him. He wanted to ask to be held, but didn't think Harry would be okay with that. He also wanted to roll over and sleep facing Harry, but he wasn't sure how that would be taken either. He bit his lip and decided what he wanted more.
"Could you hold me?" Draco whispered, sounding—even to his own ears—unsure and scared. Again, Harry didn't say anything, but silently wrapped an arm around Draco's waist and pulling him closer. Draco's back was against Harry's chest, and he could feel his breaths on his neck. He felt himself relax more than he could ever recall doing, quickly falling asleep in the warmth and comfort that Harry brought.
~xXx~
Harry worried that he would take too long to get what he needed from the market, with how people were moving after last night, and he was concerned about what Draco would do—he might worry and do something stupid. The blond tended to do that kind of stuff.
After last night, people were still afraid and hesitant. There were a handful of people taken by the guards, all matching the same description, and all of them were vendors. It wasn't good, considering half of them had decent prices, so Harry didn't have to steal from them. He wasn't made of money—no one was except for Draco and his family—and everyone understood that. Some people, however, still decided that they didn't have enough in life and kept taking more.
Unfortunately, it seemed as if almost all of the decent sellers had been taken the night before, leaving only the slimy ones. That meant Harry either had to steal, not buy anything, or use Draco's money. He wasn't particularly fond of any of those solutions, but he needed food, and so did Draco. There were other ways he could get money, but he felt like it was wrong to do it, especially now that he had a prince who worried about him and was naive to everything that happened in the world.
Harry was too proud to ask for money (or anything, really) from anyone. Including Draco. He already had something he was going to have to ask Draco for, so he supposed he was just going to have to steal to eat. He'd prefer not to, because that was just unnecessary danger, but he didn't have the money to pay for anything that was being sold.
If he could find Colin, he could probably talk enough out of the man to buy a meal. It was safer than stealing, which would be fine any other day, except the day that Draco was relying on him. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. He was just going to have to deal with it. What was a little sucking up again if it meant he could live for another month?
~xXx~
Harry wiped his mouth, grimacing at the taste on his tongue and in his throat, getting off of his knees. He spit a hair out of his mouth, wiping it off his chin and frowning slightly in disgust, rubbing his hands on his pants afterwards. He stretched his arms behind his back and, as he did so, was pulled back onto the ground by Colin. He sighed internally, staring at the dirt as Colin pulled him so Harry's back was against his chest, his chin on Harry's shoulder.
"You're getting really good at that," the older boy said gently. "I think you deserve a reward." Harry perked up a bit at that. It wasn't often that he got back what he gave, and when he did, it was pretty nice. He turned back slightly to talk to Colin.
"Can I?" he asked softly, hope clear in his voice.
"Yes. I think you're ready to try something new," Colin replied. Harry could feel the boy's smile on his bare shoulder and his hot, sweaty hand moving down his back. He anticipated what they were going to do in silence, without moving. It was best not to ask, or it might not happen.
He thought afterwards, laying on his side next to Colin yet again, that maybe he should've asked what they were going to do. He didn't think he liked that one.
~xXx~
First, Harry went back to Draco to let him know that he might be gone for a while, but not to worry—and to say that he should not leave to go anywhere at all. Otherwise, Harry wouldn't be able to find him again with the amount of people walking out today after the search last night. It seemed like people didn't want to feel alone and apart from the ones who were taken. Harry had found at that all seven of them had been executed in front of the gates, as was custom for public executions. The thought left a sick feeling in Harry's stomach—that should've been him. Even though he didn't want to die, it had been him they were looking for. Yet, he had been given a chance to keep living when seven men died because none of them could confess to knowing Draco Malfoy.
Harry tried to push that out of his mind as he walked towards Colin's usual hangout place. Part of him wondered why he was even going there. He could just turn around and ask Draco if he could borrow some money for food. He could nick some bread off the table he just passed. He could just starve. Literally anything—he rolled his eyes at the exaggeration—would be better than going to see Colin.
Every time he sought out the man, he usually ended up doing something he regretted. The only time he didn't was when he had Colin follow along to go steal clothing to sell. He ended up bumping into Draco that day, and Colin hadn't gotten the opportunity to give one of his "proposals" to Harry. There hadn't been an exchange of services the day that Harry met Draco, and every day since then that Draco was still there.
For that, he was grateful. He just didn't think he would ever be able to pay Draco back for that, unless he counted getting him back to the palace as repayment. But it wouldn't really count, because Harry would be the one asking to go, not Draco. If everything worked how he wanted it to, that was.
He shook his head and sighed in frustration. Draco didn't want to return to the palace. It took a bit for it to sink in, but now that it had, he was steadily losing hope that the blond being there was going to be anything except distracting and, as much as he hated to admit it, tormenting to him. How could he kill the parents of someone he cared about? How could he even continue to plan it when, at night, Draco asked if Harry might sleep with him? Asked if they could cuddle?
Harry was starting to wonder what the fuck was wrong with him. He was divided, and he didn't know why or what to do anymore. The answer seemed so obvious. He'd dedicated years to the plan, done so much preparing—he couldn't throw it all away now.
His parents deserved better than what they got. They weren't buried. They didn't even get the opportunity to have their ashes separate from Alice's or from each other's. Their bodies were burned together, as all the dead prisoners were. How was that right? He never even got to say goodbye. They never got a chance to explain.
Draco's parents were to blame for that, and his uncle, and the guards who did it. They deserved a worse fate than what his parents got. They deserved worse than what Harry planned to give them. Had Draco not run away, he probably would've planned to kill him too. As far as he had known, all of them were rotten to the core. Who wouldn't be, when living with His Royal Highness, Lucius Malfoy?
Harry snarled, kicking a rock as he thought about that man. But then, his thoughts turned to Draco's uncle, who gave him a pause. He wasn't as bad as he would've thought, as he didn't eagerly jump to execute him, but still traded seven men's lives for his own. Why did it have to be so complicated?
"Harry, nice to see you." Harry's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. Relief flooded through him when he saw Narcissa walking towards him from the direction he was heading. It had felt like years since he'd seen her. He was glad for a friendly face—it was grounding. He needed that.
"Narcissa," he greeted warmly, almost inclined to hug her, but not feeling comfortable doing that with her dress only covering parts of her. Her tired eyes gave him an understanding look when he just stood there, slightly awkward about it. "Where were you coming from? Not from the market, I see," he commented, wondering what she'd been doing.
"I went to see Colin. He stole some money from me last time you two were here. I went to get it back," she said angrily. She pulled out a couple of coins from the shawl looped around her waist. Harry clenched his jaw momentarily, before calming back down. Colin never knew when to draw the line.
"Bastard," Narcissa murmured, shaking her head. Harry snorted, and she smiled to herself as she slipped the coins back within the folds of the cloth. He liked seeing her smile like that, and he wished he could do that more often.
"I'm on my way to see him now. I'll hit him for you, if you want," he joked, grinning down at her. She rolled her eyes.
"Nah, he's not worth the effort. Besides, he went to go see you. I'm surprised that you haven't seen him already. He left a while ago," she said. Harry furrowed his eyebrows. That didn't seem right. If Colin had passed him, the man would've noticed. He practically stalked Harry. So either they never crossed paths, which was unlikely, or Colin lied about what he was doing.
"What?" he asked, tense. Something is wrong.
"He said he had to go clear some things up with you and Draco. Should I have held him there a bit longer?" Narcissa asked, worry in her voice. Harry bit his lip and turned around, almost hoping to see Colin's head disappear around the corner. Of course, he didn't, and looked back at Narcissa to assure her that things were fine.
"No. It's okay. I just need to go. Goodbye, Narcissa. Thank you," Harry said, turning and running back to Draco. He had a feeling about what was going to happen, and he just hoped he could get to Draco before Colin ruined everything.
~xXx~
When Harry got back, lungs burning, Draco wasn't even there to return to.